Chapter 4 - The Stolen Passport
Using the stolen brass key, Vivian bypassed the biometric scanner and slipped into the dark, silent study. She moved with the practiced, chilling efficiency of a sociopath who believed she was entirely above the law.
She knew the combination to the fireproof safe; she had secretly watched Arthur open it weeks ago through the reflection of a large decorative mirror in the hallway.
The heavy iron door swung open with a soft click. Vivian bypassed the stacks of corporate bonds, the emergency cash reserves, and the expensive jewelry. She reached directly for a small, dark blue booklet.
Lucy’s international passport.
Vivian slipped the passport into the pocket of her silk robe, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across her face.
For the past three months, Vivian had been secretly communicating with the headmistress of the St. Jude Academy—an incredibly strict, highly isolated, and notoriously abusive boarding school located on a remote island in Nassau, Bahamas. The academy specialized in taking the children of the ultra-wealthy and breaking them down through harsh physical discipline and complete psychological isolation. Once a child was checked in, they were not allowed any outside communication with their parents for the first twelve entire months.
Vivian had already paid the exorbitant tuition fees using her own offshore accounts. She had booked a private, untraceable charter flight scheduled to leave from a small county airstrip the following afternoon.
Her plan was incredibly simple and completely evil. Arthur was scheduled to fly to Chicago for a critical, three-day corporate merger the next morning. The moment his plane was in the air, Vivian intended to pack Lucy into a car, drive her to the private airstrip, and fly her out of the country before Arthur even landed. By the time Arthur realized his daughter was missing, Lucy would be locked behind the high stone walls of a foreign institution, legally enrolled by her own grandmother.
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She thought her master plan was utterly flawless. She had absolutely no idea that she had dropped a single, damning piece of paper on the floor of her bedroom.
👉 Read Part 5 to see how the innocent child uncovered the plot.
